My skin was on fire.
If his touch dropped any lower, it would be on my ass.
Please drop lower.
“Can I help?” A woman with perfectly styled blonde hair came over, giving Jesse an appraising look and barely glancing at me.
I shifted closer to Jesse, delivering my best smile.
“I’m looking for a car for Jerrica — ”
“Jesse, my man! How’s it going?” A rather rotund man boomed over, holding out his hand to Jesse. “Good to see you. I wondered when you’d be looking at one of these to add to your collection.”
Collection? I had no idea how many cars he had.
“This one’s going to be for Jerrica, so we need to find out what she likes. How’s it going anyway, Pete?” His hand lowered, his fingers definitely copping a feel.
I looked at him, giving him my best flirtatious smile, one that I also hoped conveyed the sentiment of ‘what the fuck are you doing?’.
“It’s great,” Pete said, completely oblivious to the fact that his colleague was throwing serious daggers at him now he’d bumbled through and stolen her sale. “Where do you want to start? What do you fancy?”
Jesse’s dark eyes danced with amusement. “Can we take a Quattroporte for a test drive? See how Jerrica finds driving it?”
Pete nodded. “Sure. Let me give you a rundown of the car.”
“It’s being delivered tomorrow to my house.” Jesse sat in Nate’s kitchen, his phone now on the kitchen island. “You’re insured as the main driver.”
I sipped on Amber’s fruit punch. “You’re mad, spending that much on a car you’re not going to drive.”
Jesse’s laugh was like stained silk — perfectly smooth, but with just a touch of rough in places.
It sliced through to my core like a very, very pleasant vibration, one I would think about later when I was writing a key scene.
“I’ll drive it in six months. It was good to sit in as a passenger. Loads of leg room and the seats were decent. You looked like you enjoyed driving it too.”
I had. It had felt like butter, smooth and rich and so very easy. “I think it’s ruined me for any other car.”
His grin this time was smug. “So the deal’s on?”
“It’s on. Six months. I don’t have any commitments, no holidays planned or anything, so I can work around you.” I’d let Nate know already I was taking the job. He’d been pleased, telling me that Jesse was a really decent bloke.
“Have you ever driven abroad? As in, Europe?” He sat down on a stool at the kitchen island.
I nodded. “I drove around Europe one summer with a girlfriend. We took a VW Polo and visited loads of the cities and beaches. I was fine driving on the wrong side of the road.”
“Have a think about whether you’d be comfortable going to France with me. There’s a vineyard there I’m looking to invest in, and I’d planned to visit it this summer. It could be a good break for you — we can visit the vineyard and then stay near a beach or somewhere with a pool for a few days.” He toyed with a leather band on his wrist. It was worn and a little frayed. “If you feel weird about it just being us, then I’ll look at alternative ways to scope it out.”
France. It made me think of chateaus and wine and lovely, carby French bread, with cheese and tomatoes ripened under the Mediterranean sun. I’d had an idea for another book, this one not part of my football romance series, but something vacation based, maybe set in Monte Carlo.
Jesse had made it clear he wasn’t interested in anything in between us. That didn’t mean I couldn’t pinch glimpses of him, use him for that inspiration for those scenes.
He never had to know.
“I like the idea. Can we visit Monte Carlo?”
“As long as you don’t drive that car like you’re in the Grand Prix.”
Amber was involved in what looked like pregnancy yoga when I got back, her mat spread where mine had been outside when Jesse found me, some soft music playing from her phone.
